The Martinelli administration, by way
of a proposed law presented to the National Assembly by Education
Minister Lucy Molinar and a threat made by Patrimonio Historico
director Sandra Cerrud, is looking to expropriate at least 20
properties in the Casco Viejo. They don't say which properties will be take or who gets them
after their expropriation.

The plan that Molinar announced is a $150,000 fine for those who do not
build on vacant lots or renovate dilapidated buildings. The plan that
Cerrud announced is the government taking properties for which a
renovation plan has been filed on which work has not progressed, which
have been abandoned or condemned, or which the government decides have
not been improved commensurate with the value of the neighborhood. Such
compensation as there would be would be to owners of clear record only,
at the unrealistically low values assigned by Catastro, minus the
exaggerated fines. In effect, all Casco Viejo properties owned by the
poor would be confiscated without compensation. More upscale property
owners have also expressed fears that the Martinelistas will take their
real estate in retaliation for them opposing a four-lane highway around
the Casco Viejo, which is almost certain to result in UNESCO revoking
the neighborhood's World Heritatge Site status and thus reduce property
values.

The move fits into a national pattern of land grabs by people in and
close to the government, including many a fishing village wanted for
resort development, rural lands and water rights wanted for
hydroelectric dams, sea floors to fill in for new waterfront
developments and choice urban properties. The expulsion of communities
in favor of Martinelista insiders or foreign investors in league with government officials
has led to disturbances around the country. In a few cases the abuses
have been so notorious that land grabs have been aborted and in even
fewer cases there have been criminal investigations. However, none of
the actual beneficiaries of and behind-the-scenes authors of any of the
land grabs have been subject to investigation or prosecution.

Colonial-era ruins that would
be expensive to restore

One of Panama City's last beaches, soon to be a landfill with a
four-lane highway